


Captain & Mrs.

by ami_ven



Series: Alternate Lives [3]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Historical, Community: mcsheplets, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-04
Updated: 2016-07-04
Packaged: 2018-07-20 00:25:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7383553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ami_ven/pseuds/ami_ven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The sunlight glinted on the gold band on her left ring finger and she paused, just admiring it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Captain & Mrs.

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Compatibility of Souls](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2467943) by [ami_ven](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ami_ven/pseuds/ami_ven). 



> Written for LJ community "mcsheplets" prompt #231 "age"
> 
> tag to chapter six: [Privateers](http://ami-ven.livejournal.com/510365.html) (Meredith is a ~~lady~~ shipwright, John is a ~~pirate~~ privateer)

Meredith stood at _Atlantis’s_ rail, watching the ocean’s distant horizon slowly turn rosey-gold with the rising sun. The sunlight glinted on the gold band on her left ring finger and she paused, just admiring it.

“I would shower you with gold, if I could,” said a voice, suddenly, and she whirled, glaring at the speaker.

“Do you mean to give me an attack of nerves, captain?” she snapped.

John grinned, taking a step across the deck. “I made plenty of noise,” he said. “It’s just that you were too distracted to hear me. Are you still so enamored of your wedding ring, Mrs. Sheppard?”

“I was attempting to calculate our longitude using only the sun,” said Meredith, which was a lie. “Some of us rise early to get _work_ done.”

He laughed, his ridiculous braying genuine laugh, and strode forward to pull her into a fierce kiss.

And _that_ was the most incredible thing, after nearly three months of marriage, not the warm weight of her wedding band, but the way John still laughed at her insults and kissed away her scowls.

“And I suppose keeping _Atlantis_ afloat doesn’t qualify as work?” he teased, when they broke for air.

“Hardly,” she said, and he laughed again.

“Never change, Meredith,” said John.

“I have, though,” she said, softly. “I’m hardly the same as when we met, John, now that I’ve turned pirate.”

“Privateer,” he corrected, out of habit. “And you haven’t really changed. It’s just that you can finally be _yourself_ , let the world see your best qualities, that polite society was trying to stifle.”

“You mean my brilliant mechanical mind and my razor sharp tongue?” Meredith asked.

John grinned. “Those are the parts _I_ like best,” he said.

Meredith felt herself going pink and turned in his arms, facing the ocean. Her husband wrapped his arms more firmly around her waist, hooking his chin over her shoulder. “Do you imagine this is any less difficult for me to believe?” he breathed, in her ear. “I had resigned myself to loneliness, because the sea is my home and I never thought I would find a woman who would understand, let alone share it with me. But here you are, beautiful and brilliant and you agreed to marry me.”

“Yes, I did,” said Meredith. “Even if it did mean joining your pirate crew.”

“Privateer,” John corrected, and pressed a kiss just below her ear.

She shivered, happily, then straightened. “I’m famished,” she said. “Where is that steward of yours with breakfast?”

John kissed her again, then released her to step back and offer his arm. “May I escort you to our cabin, Mrs. Sheppard?”

She took it, smiling. “You may, Captain Sheppard.”

THE END


End file.
